Pope's Cuba message long on faith, short on politics

Pope Francis stuck mainly to religion during his visit to Cuba, steering clear of delicate topics like democratic reforms and human rights -- and risking criticism from some at his next stop, Washington.

Francis's US-Cuban trip is the most high-profile of his papacy so far, and carries added symbolic weight given his role in helping broker the old Cold War foes' recent rapprochement.

But he avoided wading into the most delicate issues still dividing them: Cuba's calls for an end to the American embargo, and the insistence by many in the US Congress that the communist island must first launch democratic reforms, stop cracking down on dissidents and lift restrictions on civil liberties.

Francis did urge Cuba to continue down the path of "reconciliation," a message that encompasses both the ongoing negotiations with the United States and the formerly atheist state's gradual reopening toward the Church.

And at a mass in Havana, the 78-year-old Argentine warned that service must be directed toward people, and not "ideological."

But he otherwise hewed to a religious message, in a country where Catholicism faces something of a crisis: Just 10 percent of Cuba's 11 million people describe themselves as practicing Catholics, even though many more were baptized in the Church.

Cuban dissidents were critical of the pope for not accepting their requests to meet with him, even as three dissidents were arrested for trying to protest at his mass in Havana.

"The pope's role as mediator stops at the point of calling for internal change on the island," wrote dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez.

She urged the pope to work to persuade the communist regime to allow free speech and full political and civil rights.

"If he manages to promote those changes, then the pope will have achieved a truly historic mediation: between the Cuban government and its own people," she wrote.

On the plane from Cuba to the United States, the pope told reporters that no one had been granted an audience -- "dissidents or others."

Francis also swept aside any criticism of how he approached thorny issues during the visit, saying: "I spoke clearly about the things that need correcting."

- 'Avoided confrontation' -

 In a display of polite diplomacy, the pope met with both Fidel and Raul Castro, the brothers who have ruled Cuba since its 1959 revolution -- taking more than half an hour to sit and chat with the voluble Fidel in what a Vatican spokesman described as a "very informal and friendly" exchange.

"To be sure, Francis has avoided direct confrontation with Cuba's rulers, expressing respect for both Castros," wrote American Vatican specialist John Allen on his blog, Crux.

That approach may ruffle the feathers of some in the US Congress, which Francis will address Thursday.

To many in the Republican party that currently controls both houses, the Castros remain bitter enemies of both the United States and the Cuban people.

Francis may share a certain Latin American perspective with the Castros that makes him reluctant to take them to task, said Harvard University historian Jonathan Hansen.

"Coming from Argentina, he probably doesn't see this standoff as anything like a standoff among equals," said Hansen, a Cuba specialist.

"America will be fine without Cuba right now, but Cuba wouldn't be fine if we just kept this embargo forever. So I think there are some interesting questions about his sense of where the balance of power lies and where he should exert pressure."

- 'Between the lines' -

At the same time, Francis's approach is not so different from the previous papal visits to Cuba by John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012, said Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

"His speeches and his rhetoric have certainly been similar to other popes, including John Paul II, in terms of not directly making reference to political situations," he told AFP.

"But I think he's been very emphatic in terms of the emphasis on reconciliation and peace, and I think that can be read between the lines in terms of what (he) wants for the future of Cuba."

Since becoming pope in March 2013, Francis has not shied away from scathing criticism of targets including his own clergy, global capitalism and the failures of the international community as a whole.

But while that has given him a reputation for outspokenness, he has often been cautiously diplomatic in his interactions with individual governments.

He called repeatedly in Cuba for a "culture of dialogue" in which differences can be discussed respectfully and opinions openly exchanged.

It is likely a message he will repeat in the United States.

Source: AFP